Sunday, March 30, 2008

Magical Day at Grandma's Place

It was Sunday at Grandma's Place again today. We met cousins in the parking lot at the nursing home, and surprised her for lunch.

The nursing home that my Grandma stays in right now is a pretty darned nice one. It's in the middle of a field, with small ponds surrounding it. It is owned by fat little duck couple that circles it on an hourly basis. They're like bowling balls with wings and bills. We were lucky to be greeted by them this morning:

I threw my shoe into the photo to show you how friendly they are. Seriously, when I stooped down to get a closer photo, they were so eager that I couldn't get far enough away from them to get a focused shot:

There's a resident dog that helps deliver meds, and you're welcome to bring your own dog in, leashed, any day you want. There are tons of dogs visiting on any Sunday. It makes ME so happy, I can't imagine how it lifts the spirits of the residents.

There's a small aviary. These cute cuddlers could cheer anyone up.

Grandma's nursing home has Wii! I've never even played Wii yet! I imagine these folks would kick my bee-you-tex! They also have electronic bingo--can't make it down the hall? Play from your room!

On the days we visit beloved Gma, we give her a break from cafeteria food! My cousin Gina and I run to carry out food from one of Grandma's favs:

A steak hoagie is one of her usuals, but she opted for a cheeseburger and fries today. I get a chef salad, because they make their own bleu cheese dressing, and it is LOADED with garlic. Yum-O!

After lunch, a couple of decks of cards were brought out, and Crazy-8s was the game of the day. I was apprehensive at first; Mom doesn't remember numbers so well. And card suits? Oy! Is this a good idea?!!

Her little girl. "Hearts, you need, or a seven. Draw. Again. Again. There you go. Put that one down. No, on this pile."

And I relax as I realize: My Grandmother gets it. She knows my mother, and her condition, she patiently and lovingly helped her pick the card she was to play. She sometimes pulled the card from her hand, but always handed it back to her, saying "play this one."

At one point, when I changed the suit to Spades, she had my mother throw down her last Diamond, and cheered to my mother, "You won!" We wisely, laughingly, followed her lead: Mom won! Yayyyy!

After wearing ourselves out with cards, we retired to Grandma's room, and listened to Mom's cousin Mary tell a story about herself and Mom:

When they were younger, Mom decided that she'd like a hot-oil treament on her hair. Melting vaseline was how THAT was done. Mary balked "won't that solidify, after it cools?" Mom assured her it would not, so they forged ahead with Mom's hot-oil treatment.

The vaseline, of course, did solidify. There was no washing the stuff out; they even tried Ajax. Mom just had to let the stuff wear out of her hair, and we laughed as we contemplated the state of her pillowcase.

Crazy; those girls were just crazy.

Little did we have room to talk. Cousin Gina and I (Mary's daughter) ran out to lunch today, and commented on the dog atop this crane

See it? Right there, on top of that orange crane construction thing? On the left! See it?!

"Is that a dog? On top of that crane thing?!" she said?

"My god!" I agreed. "Yes, it is a dog. Or a wolf, or something. What IS it? What is that crazy dog doing, on top of that of that thing?"

On and on we're squealing about that dog...

Click to embiggen.

It's not a dog at all. It's just pipes. Or something. And I don't even know if that's a crane, honestly. Shut up. How should I know?

...and maybe these apples don't fall too far from their trees, yes?

At any rate, it was a lovely day. I'll close now, with a photo of this sign I spotted on the way out of town:

I'm sorry about your Mom. The place seems really nice and modern. I think it's so cool that they have Wii there. My right thumb is bad so I bowl left handed with the Wii which I'm sure I could never do with an actual bowling ball. I wonder who Pete is?

"It's in the middle of a field, with small ponds surrounding it" god this sounds like heaven...why in the world do we have to wait until we're old and gray to live a life as happy as this!!! I'll go there now if someone will help my husband pay the mortgage!!! LOL

Animals are always the best therapy they relax the soul.

I heard that the Wii was becoming the craze in the older communities because it exercises parts physical therapy can't and forced people to socialize when they normally might have lived a withdrawn life.

WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND MAKE ME CRY!! "And I relax as I realize: My Grandmother gets it. She knows my mother, and her condition, she patiently and lovingly helped her pick the card she was to play. She sometimes pulled the card from her hand, but always handed it back to her, saying "play this one."

At one point, when I changed the suit to Spades, she had my mother throw down her last Diamond, and cheered to my mother, "You won!" We wisely, laughingly, followed her lead: Mom won! Yayyyy!"